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by Steven D
Bob Fitrakis is a voting rights activist in Ohio, who initially rose to prominence in the wake of the massive voting irregularities which accompanied the 2004 election in Ohio.
He is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit in federal court, King Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association et. al. v. J. Kenneth Blackwell (caution: pdf file), alleging that Blackwell violated the civil rights of numerous Ohio voters in 2004 by depriving them of their right to vote. The judge hearing that case, U.S. District Judge Algernon L. Marbley, recently handed Fitrakis and other plaintiffs a victory in that suit when he ordered the Boards of Election in all 88 Ohio counties "to preserve all ballots from the Presidential election, on paper or in any other format, including electronic data, unless and until such time otherwise instructed by the court." Bob Fitrakis was quoted yesterday in an article by OpEdNews executive editor and publisher, Rob Kall, claiming that thousands of Democrats have been recently purged from the Ohio voter rolls:
Dr. Fitrakis, told OpEdNews, "Essentially, by purging these rolls, the Republicans, by shrinking the electorate, have already won in Ohio. If they can't win, which is what the polls show among registered voters, the way to win is to use their nuclear option-- to target black voters, young voters and the working poor-- by purging them so they can't vote. (cont.)
Fitrakis argues that the Democratic Party in Ohio and/or the Democratic National Committee should be encouraged to take legal action to overturn what he considers a partisan effort by Blackwell and others to wrongfully purge Ohio Democrats (primarily African-Americans and students) from the voting rolls prior to the November election. In short, he says they are using the same tactic to suppress Democratic votes that they successfully used in 2004 to help win the election in Ohio for President Bush.
Fitrakis [said], "We're going to try desperately to get to the bottom of this and try on Friday to get an injunction-- Monday, at the latest. Bob Fitrakis has been dogged in his pursuit of exposing the shameful and illegal efforts by Ken Blackwell and other Republicans to deprive Democratic voters of their right to vote in 2004. The success he and his lawyers have achieved in convincing a federal judge to order officials of all 88 Boards of Elections in Ohio to preserve their ballots from the 2004 election, rather than destroy them, speaks for itself. If he claims that a purge of Democratic voters has been carried out by Ken Blackwell, again, in the months and weeks prior to the Mid-term election this year, I'm inclined to believe him. And yes, the Democratic Party, at both the state and national level, needs to get involved in overturning this travesty. In 2004, witnessed the outrageous and relentless effort by the Republican Party to suppress the vote in minority precincts of Cuyahoga county. These efforts continued, even in the face of a federal injunction against challenging voters based on a "caging" effort by Republicans which was similar in many respects to the one that is currently being conducted in Ohio, according to Fitrakis. If Democrats don't act soon, it may be too late to save the votes of thousands of Ohioans. And too late to save another election from being stolen.
Ohio Voter Purge by Blackwell? Bob Fitrakis Seeks Injunction | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Ohio Voter Purge by Blackwell? Bob Fitrakis Seeks Injunction | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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